Happy Thanksgiving and Have Safe Travel

Here's wishing you all the fun of eating that wonderful Thanksgiving meal, watching football, and the blessings of being with your family.

Privacy online

A Privacy Paradox: Social Networking in the United States by Susan B. Barnes in First Monday -- "Teenagers will freely give up personal information to join social networks on the Internet. Afterwards, they are surprised when their parents read their journals. Communities are outraged by the personal information posted by young people online and colleges keep track of student activities on and off campus."

The linked article discusses privacy issues in social networks and examines solutions to these issues. What do you think? Is privacy a outdated concept? Should it be?

Veterans Day

Veterans Day - Find out more about it. Lets us know what Veterans Day means to you. Post a comment.

Attention Deficit in the Classroom

Attention Deficit in the Classroom

Do you carry a laptop to class? Do you find it beneficial? Read the article linked above and give you opinion.

Oh, no! Confrontation!

Resolve Conflict Quickly with The Four Agreements

It’s that time again: The semester is almost shot, tests and papers are piling up, finals are just around the corner. Your roommates/ sorority-sisters/ guy at the next table/ teachers … SOMEONE is driving you nuts! For your own sanity, take the time to read this, Margaret Mason’s review of The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

The Four Agreements
by Don Miguel Ruiz

I dread conflict. In fact, when I know a confrontation is imminent, it’s all I can think about. I mull it over when I could be labeling file folders, I ponder it while my inbox burgeons, while my 3x5 cards gather dust. Conflict is my productivity disaster.

Fortunately, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz gave me a few significant tools for moving past conflict in any arena. … I find it especially helpful when I’m anxious about a tough meeting, phone call, email exchange, or personal conversation. Before I head into the lion’s den, I review the agreements to put myself in the right frame of mind:

1. Be impeccable with your word. Words have immeasurable power, so use them with care. Say only what you mean, and remember your opinion isn’t fact. Silence is better than saying something you’ll regret.

2. Don’t take anything personally. Here I’ll quote the book, “Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.” That guy honking at you just spilled scalding coffee all over his lap, the boss screaming at you is going through a divorce. Their stuff has nothing to do with your stuff, and assuming you’re the root cause of someone’s behavior is not only self-centered, it’s also a big waste of energy.

3. Don’t make assumptions. You can spend hours generating theories about why someone did something, or you can just ask.

4. Do your best. Do the best you can with the conflict in front of you, and you won’t need to waste brain power on self-judgments or regrets.
Read Margaret Mason’s entire review at http://www.43folders.com/2007/11/05/resolve-conflict-quickly-four-agreements

Students Converge on Capitol

Students Converge on Capitol to Lobby for Action on Climate Change from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Thousands of college students descended on Capitol Hill on Monday to press Congress for more action on the issue of climate change. Several testified at a hearing, and many more, representing more than 500 colleges, held a rally and met with members of Congress to discuss issues like carbon emissions and fuel efficiency.

What do you think? Is the earth in trouble? How is the climate? Post a comment and give us your thoughts!

What do you think about library services?

The Tarleton Library staff is conducting a User Satisfaction survey on Tuesday, November 6 through Wednesday, November 7. Take this opportunity to tell us what you like or don't like about the library. Your feedback allows us to see how we are doing and seek ideas for improving our services, so your comments are very important.

The survey is available in the lobby of the Dick Smith Library, the Oveta Culp Hobby Memorial Library, and online at: http://survey01.tarleton.edu/efm/wsb.dll/s/4eg70

Are you watching Blogger Play?

Need a break? Take a few minutes to check out Blogger Play.

It's a real-time slideshow of photos Blogger users have recently uploaded to their blogs. It's a great snapshot of what people are thinking and posting about, right now!

You can view a never-ending stream of images that were just uploaded to public Blogger blogs. Click the image to be taken directly to the blog post it was uploaded to, or click “show info” to see an overlay with the post title, a snippet of the body, and some profile information about the blogger who uploaded it.

Rowling completes book of fairy tales

LONDON (AP) — J.K. Rowling has completed her first book not to feature teen wizard Harry Potter — an illustrated collection of magical fairy stories titled The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2007-11-01-rowling_N.htm?csp=34

The Machine is Us/ing Us

Michael Wesch’s YouTube video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" (aka "Web 2.0 in Just Under 5 Minutes") is an insightful look at how technology impacts everyone's lives.

The video explores ideas like:

• “change in one area (such as the way we communicate) can have a profound effect on everything else, including family, love, and our sense of being itself,”
• “everything is connected throughout all time,”
• “all people on the planet are connected,” and
• technology creates opportunities “for us to make a profound difference in the world.”

This video is one of the projects by Wesch and a group of cultural anthropology students (digital ethnography working group) that explore “impacts of digital technology on human interaction and human interaction on digital technology.”

You’ll find an informative interview with Michael Wesch that discusses this video and other projects on John Battelle’s Searchblog.